{"id":5772,"date":"2020-10-01T16:00:23","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T08:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/solariscancercare.org.au\/?p=5772"},"modified":"2020-10-01T16:00:23","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T08:00:23","slug":"sleep-essential-activity-carers-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/2020\/10\/01\/sleep-essential-activity-carers-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"To Sleep or Not to Sleep &#8211; The Carers Conundrum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>BY GEMMA CROTTY <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cancer caregivers have the important role of tending to the needs of their loved ones during a critical time. However, for many, it takes a physical and emotional toll on their health. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In trying to bring comfort to their loved one, it may be common for carers to neglect their own needs, resulting in a decline in their health. For example, carers may be particularly prone to a lack of sleep at night, with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC6147560\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">study<\/a> revealing that between 40 &#8211; 76 per cent of caregivers experience significant sleep disturbance &#8211; more than cancer patients themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This can be caused by multiple factors, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mskcc.org\/cancer-care\/patient-education\/managing-insomnia-caregivers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center<\/a> revealing these to be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The stress that comes with being responsible for another person\u2019s health<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A sense of always having to be awake and alert (a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC6147560\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">study<\/a> of cancer caregivers found the most frequent disturbance to sleep was waking during the night to care for the patient)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The changes that being a caregiver might have brought to their daily routine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A concern for the well-being of their loved one<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lack of support from family and friends<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Anxiety due to financial issues<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Further, other factors can include mental illnesses such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.helpforcancercaregivers.org\/content\/sleep-problems\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">depression and anxiety<\/a>, which may either cause sleep problems or be the result of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why Caregivers Need Sleep<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sleep is a requirement for anyone, but caregivers especially need to be well-rested so they can provide adequate care for their loved one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are multiple <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mskcc.org\/cancer-care\/patient-education\/managing-insomnia-caregivers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">effects<\/a> that insomnia may have on your ability to caregive. Firstly, it may make you tired during the day, meaning you don\u2019t have much energy to perform duties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, it can drastically impact your mental and physical welfare, and it is believed that only one night of lost sleep is all it takes to \u2018catch a cold&#8217;, have an accident, feel intense emotions, and lose focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But there are even effects that are less known, such as insomnia\u2019s ability to kill brain cells &#8211; the result of this being other problems, such as memory loss. Due to this and other issues, a carer\u2019s ability to look after a cancer patient may be heavily affected by a lack of sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How to Get Better Sleep as a Caregiver<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If feeling overwhelmed and stressed is what\u2019s keeping you from getting a good night\u2019s sleep, some recommendations from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/cancer-survivors\/caregivers\/caring-for-yourself.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Centre for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a> include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Considering respite care for your loved one. This is described as \u2018temporary care given to a person who is unable to care for himself or herself, so the person\u2019s usual caregivers can have a break\u2019.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Seeking help from your family members, friends, or others in the community, such as a support group \u2018for emotional support\u2019.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Seeking financial assistance. If money is causing you stress as a result of reduced work hours or needing to leave your job,\u00a0you may be able to receive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carergateway.gov.au\/help-and-support\/caring-me\/available-support-carers\/financial-support\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a payment<\/a> from the government for being a carer<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Staying healthy and fit, and generally taking care of yourself.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Gemma Crotty is a volunteer blog writer for Solaris Cancer Centre from her home in Melbourne. Currently studying a Graduate Diploma in Communication at La Trobe University, she is considering a career in communications or journalism. Gemma has a strong humanities research background from her Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Sydney. She has a keen passion for writing and likes to find new ways to hone her skills and connect to others through her words.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cancer caregivers have the important role of tending to the needs of their loved ones during a critical time. However, for many, it takes a physical and emotional toll on their health. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5773,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,10,16],"tags":[110,144,184,188,259,260,344,412,530,531,633,634],"class_list":["post-5772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-current-news-and-information","category-lifestyle-and-environment","tag-cancer","tag-caring","tag-conundrum","tag-coping-mechanism","tag-emotional-support","tag-emotional-turmoil","tag-health","tag-love","tag-physical-health","tag-physical-wellbeing","tag-sleep","tag-sleeping"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5772\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}